B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

Gambling for charity is certainly a big draw. The Orange County

Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society took over the Robert

Mondavi Food and Wine Center last week, attracting more than 200 high

rollers who dropped $60,000 on the tables for the charity.

The Las Vegas-style casino evening also featured a lucrative silent

auction and plenty of laughs provided by celebrity impersonator David

Giorgi.

Honored guest Dr. William Hornstein, medical director of Neuro

Diagnostic Services at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Long Beach, enjoyed

the fund-raiser with his wife, Debbie, and their friend Dr. Stanley van

den Noort, professor and chairman of the Department of Neurology at UC

Irvine.

Van den Noort and his wife, June, joined Bill and Kristi Bisch,

Kimberly and Steve Roush, Jeff and Jill Egertson, and Chris and Joyce

Serocke to help fight multiple sclerosis via the roulette wheel.

Whatever works is just fine. Fighting a deadly disease such as this

may in fact justify a little Machiavellian behavior. Multiple sclerosis

is the No. 1 neurological disease among young adults. This chronic,

disabling disease attacks both the brain and the nervous system.

“The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS, which range from

numbness to paralysis and blindness, cannot be predicted,” said Jamie

MacDonald, representing the Orange County Chapter of the National

Multiple Sclerosis Society.

MacDonald and her media partner, Carolina Cormac, added: “More than

3,000 people suffer from MS in Orange County. Nationwide the numbers

exceeds 400,000. At this time there is no known cause, cure or prevention

for multiple sclerosis.”

Locals involved in planning and supporting the gambling evening

included Jim Graves, Nancy Rossi, Lewis Finkelstein, Rose Mary Kotarski,

Laurel Butler, Scott Gregory, Mary Jo Housman, John Most, Diane Parker,

Betty Belden Palmer, Carl Karcher and Alice Zamboni. For more

information, call (949) 752-1680.

* * *

A host of very special local yachtsmen and women are preparing for the

fifth annual Volvo Leukemia Cup Regatta. The prestigious race for a very

important cause is being co-sponsored by Newport Beach’s tony Bahia

Corinthian Yacht Club, the Dana West Yacht Club, and the Seal Beach Yacht

Club. Two starting lines -- one from Long Beach and the other from

Newport Beach -- will kick off the Regatta on June 1, followed by two

days of special races and events culminating in a final day at Dana

Point.

Tonight, the Seal Beach Yacht Club will host the first in a series of

charity fund-raising parties to support the Leukemia Cup Regatta.

Comedian Ronn Lucas is set to entertain the local crowd.

Then, on April 7, a charity wine dinner produced by Creative Cuisine

and featuring the fine wines of Ashland Vineyards will continue the

fund-raising effort. Jerry Weskirchin will host the charity wine dinner,

also to be held at the Seal Beach Yacht Club.

On May 20, Newport Beach’s Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club will welcome

the community to the third annual Junior Volvo Leukemia Cup Regatta,

sponsored by dedicated local sailors helping to organize the event, such

as Lido Isle’s generous Nancy and Barry Levy. For more information, call

Pat Dwight at (949) 622-3927.

* * *

Big time beauty is coming to Costa Mesa. Mrs. Globe 2001, an

internationally televised pageant searching for the most glamorous and

accomplished married women in the world, is due to arrive March 23 in

Orange County.

Tracy Kemble of Tracy Kemble Productions, which produces the show, is

bringing 39 Mrs. Globe titleholders from countries around the world to

Costa Mesa for a 10-day event that will culminate in the crowing of Mrs.

Globe 2001.

The delegates will be staying at the Country Inn and Suites in Costa

Mesa. Kemble also reports that the pageant is not only designed to

showcase international beauty and talent, but operates as a fund-raiser

for the Women in Need Foundation, a nonprofit outreach program for abused

women and children.

Included in the 10-day extravaganza will be shopping excursions at

South Coast Plaza, cultural outreach celebrating local Hispanic heritage,

coastal jaunts to Laguna Beach, visits to the Children’s Hospital of

Orange County, Olivecrest and other charitable institutions in the

community, as well as stops at Knott’s Berry Farm and other Orange County

attractions.

Mrs. Globe 2001 will be broadcast on the International Channel as a

Mother’s Day special, and satellite-fed to more than 30 countries around

the world. For more information, call (949) 598-0555.

* * *

Hadassah Lieberman, wife of Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D.-Conn.), will be

in Newport Beach on April 22 as a guest speaker at Temple Bat Yahm.

Lieberman, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, has lived in the

United States since 1950. Graduating from Boston University, and then

earning a master’s degree in American government and international

relations from Northeastern University, Lieberman has most recently

worked for the National Research Counsel linking American corporations to

educational reform in the fields of math and science.

Her address will focus on the campaign journey with her husband, who

was the 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate, as well as her own

point of view on community involvement and activism. The evening is open

to the entire community, with tickets to go on sale March 12, ranging in

price from $18 to $100. Full-time students are welcome at no charge.

For information, call (949) 644-1999.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.